 MSExplorer in January 2005 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name |
|
| Owner |
|
| Port of registry |
|
| Builder | Uudenkaupungin Telakka,Uusikaupunki, Finland |
| Laid down | 1969 |
| Launched | 14 December 1969 |
| In service | 1969–2007 |
| Out of service | 23 November 2007 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Sank after hitting aniceberg on 23 November 2007 at62°24′S57°16′W / 62.400°S 57.267°W /-62.400; -57.267 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 2398 |
| Length | 239 ft (73 m) |
| Beam | 46 ft (14 m) |
| Draught | 14 ft 7 in (4.45 m) |
| Ice class | ICE-1A (as per BNV, equals Finnish-Swedish IA)[2] |
| Propulsion | 2 ×MaK diesel M452 AK each 1,800 bhp (1,300 kW), driving a single variable-pitch propeller, 4 blades |
| Speed | 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph) |
| Capacity | 104 passengers |
| Crew | 54 |
MSExplorer orMVExplorer was a Liberian-registeredcruise ship, used forAntarctic cruising. She was the first cruise ship to sink there,[3] after striking aniceberg on 23 November 2007. All passengers and crew were rescued.[4]
The ship was commissioned and operated by theSwedish explorerLars-Eric Lindblad. Its 1969 expeditionary cruise toAntarctica was the forerunner for today's sea-basedtourism in that region.[5][6] The vessel was originally namedMSLindblad Explorer (until 1985), andMSSociety Explorer (until 1992). Ownership of the vessel changed several times, the last owner being theToronto-based travel companyG.A.P Adventures which acquiredExplorer in 2004.[1][7]
Explorer was abandoned in the early hours of 23 November 2007 after taking on water near theSouth Shetland Islands in theSouthern Ocean, an area which is usually stormy but was calm at the time.[8]Explorer was confirmed by theChilean Navy to have sunk at an approximate position of62°24′S57°16′W / 62.400°S 57.267°W /-62.400; -57.267, between the South Shetlands andGrahams Land in theBransfield Strait;[9] where the depth is roughly 600 m.[10] TheRoyal Navy Antarctic Patrol ShipEndurance, whilst carrying out a hydrographic survey for theBritish Antarctic Survey and at the request of theForeign and Commonwealth Office, later pinpointedExplorer's final resting place as62°24′17.57″S57°11′46.49″W / 62.4048806°S 57.1962472°W /-62.4048806; -57.1962472, at an approximate depth of 1,130 metres (3,710 ft) – a distance of 4,373 m (14,347 ft) from her reported sinking position. This is broadly consistent with the direction of the prevailing current.[11]
Explorer was commissioned by Lars-Eric Lindblad, the Swedish-American pioneer of "exotic expedition" tours, and built in 1969 at Uudenkaupungin Telakka,[12] a shipyard inUusikaupunki, Finland. The ship was built to stay afloat with two compartments filled with water. Her originalFinnish-Swedish ice class was 1C, which is relatively weak. It is not known when the ice class was uprated to 1A.[13] The vessel was originally namedLindblad Explorer, after Lars-Eric Lindblad, and was the first custom-built expeditionary cruise ship.
The first notable incident of theExplorer was when it ran aground near La Plaza Point, Antarctica, on 11 February 1972; her passengers, Lindblad among them, were rescued by the Chilean Navy.[14] She was towed toBuenos Aires, Argentina, and then toKristiansand, Norway, for repairs.[15] After being renamed theLindblad Explorer, the ship ran aground offWiencke Island in the Antarctic on 25 December 1979.[16] The 70 passengers and 34 of the crew were rescued by the Chilean Navy Antarctic transportPiloto Pardo, leaving the captain and a skeleton crew of 21 on board to await the arrival of atugboat.[17]
Explorer was the first cruise ship to navigate theNorthwest Passage in 1984. She was involved in the rescue of the crew of an Argentinesupply ship in 1989 that had hit a rock ledge offAnvers Island, Antarctica.[18] In 1998Explorer was the first ship to circumnavigateJames Ross Island;[19] and in the same year, was claimed to be the first ship, as distinct from river boat, to sail 80 miles (130 km) aboveIquitos, Peru, to the point where theMarañón andUcayali rivers meet to become theAmazon River.[20]
Explorer was depicted on at least two postage stamps issued bySouth Georgia, and one issued by theFalkland Islands.[21][22]Explorer was nicknamed "the Little Red Ship".[23] A scale model ofExplorer is on display atCanterbury Museum, Christchurch,New Zealand.
Explorer departed fromUshuaia, Argentina, on 11 November 2007 on a 19-day cruise calledSpirit of Shackleton run byGAP, intended to trace the route of the 20th-century explorerErnest Shackleton through theDrake Passage (an area typically stormy with rough seas). After visiting the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, she hit an iceberg on 23 November 2007 in theBransfield Strait, close toKing George Island in theSouthern Ocean and near theSouth Shetland Islands. The iceberg struck byExplorer made a gash in the hull which allowed water to enter.
TheArgentine Navy later said in a statement that it had observed "significant" damage.[4] The official report of the sinking noted: "The damage sustained had to have extended along the length of the vessel from Cabins 308 to 314 for at least a distance of 3.6 meters, and, in all likelihood, had punctured and sliced holes along the shell plating."[24]
Some passengers onExplorer reported a loud "bang" at the time of impact, although others reported that there had been no noticeable impact, or at least nothing more than the normal crunching of ice experienced when sailing through icy waters. One passenger reported sea water in their cabin at about 03:00UTC.[25][26] Some reports also indicated that the ship had drifted into an iceberg onExplorer'sstarboard side while the crew was assessing damage caused by the original impact, also to the starboard side of the ship.[27]
Amayday call was put out by the ship at 04:24 UTC, and rescue operations were quickly coordinated by the DPA Peter Burman in Sweden who directly took contact with thePrefectura Naval Argentina (the Argentinian equivalent of a coastguard) and the Chilean Navy Center forSearch and Rescue. Chile dispatched theicebreakerAlmirante Óscar Viel, and nearby commercial ships; including the MNUshuaia, theNational Geographic Endeavour, and the NorwegianCoastal Express shipMS Nordnorge which was operating as a passenger cruise ship at the time.[28] By 07:30 UTC all 91 passengers, nine guides and 54 crew,[a] from over 14 countries,[b] had taken to theExplorer's lifeboats.[29] They drifted for five hours until they were picked up by the Norwegian ship MSNordnorge, which arrived on scene at approximately 10:00 UTC.[19][30]
All of those rescued byNordnorge were taken to the ChileanFrei Montalva Station on King George Island, from where they were subsequently airlifted byC-130 Herculestransport aircraft of theChilean Air Force toPunta Arenas, Chile,[19] in two separate flights; one on Saturday 24 November and the other on Sunday 25 November. Those passengers not taken to Punta Arenas (an estimated 70) were taken to Uruguay'sArtigas Base.Explorer sank at 19:00 UTC, approximately 20 hours after the initial impact and damage to her hull.[31] Her wreck lies at62°24′18″S57°11′46″W / 62.404882°S 57.196247°W /-62.404882; -57.196247.
Explorer was designed, like most ships, with compartments which could be sealed off by watertight doors. The ship would not sink if holed and one compartment flooded, but was not safe if more compartments were flooded, either by a gash spanning compartments or imperfect sealing between compartments. GAP reported that there was a crack in addition to the hole, but it is not clear if it spanned compartments.[32]
In an article published on 8 December 2007, experts considered thatExplorer was "perfect for ice navigation", and stated that the explanation of the sinking "doesn't add up" and that "essential pieces of the story are missing".[33]
The investigation into the sinking ofExplorer was carried out by the Liberian Bureau of Maritime Affairs. The report into the accident was released in April 2009.[2] The report cites the decision by Captain Bengt Wiman,[34] age 49, to enter the ice field based on his knowledge and information available at the time as the primary reason whyExplorer was so severely damaged. "He was under the mistaken impression that he was encountering first year ice, which in fact, as the Chilean Navy Report indicated, was much harder land ice."[citation needed]
Passengers reported seeing red paint on the passing ice less than thirty minutes prior to when the flooding was reported, another indication that the vessel was passing through compact and hard ice. The master ofExplorer was very experienced in Baltic waters, but he was unfamiliar with the type of ice he encountered in Antarctic waters.[2] The report's investigating officer could not convinceGAP that it was their responsibility to retrieve the ship'svoyage data recorder, after the master failed to ensure its transfer from the ship despite being reminded to do so.[2] The report also found that, given that the GAP staff "served the function of crew members", they should have had "the required safety training and documents as seafarers".[2]
The report praises the performance of the master and crew in organizing and evacuating the passengers, and notes that lives were likely saved due to the actions of these individuals.[2]
On her way back to Ushaia, Tierra del Fuego, where she was due on December 30, the Lindblad Explorer passed by Wiencke Island, which lies between Anvers Island and the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. She was off Cape Astrup at the north-eastern end of the island when she ran aground. A sunken rock with less than 1.8m of water over it lies about 402m north of the cape.
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1972 | |
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| Other incidents |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1979 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 2007 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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